A wonderfully expanded reissue of this South American rock treasure from the early 70s – key recordings by Eduardo Mateo, easily one of the most enigmatic musicians to ever record on the Uruguay scene! Although once a member of some harder-edged rock acts in the 60s, Mateo is surprisingly warm and gentle on these tracks – slightly folksy at times, but also with echoes of candombe in the percussion of some of these tunes – a unique cross-cultural blend that's made even better through production that's sweetly compressed, but also wonderfully clean and simple. There's an earnest, personal feel to these tunes that reminds us a lot of the work of Alzo & Udine – or Alzo, solo – spare use of percussion underneath acoustic guitar, topped by vocals that really have a way of grabbing us, even when we can't understand the lyrics! Given Mateo's temperament and unreliability in the studio, the original album in the set was more of a "collection" put together by his producer – and it's expanded on greatly here with the addition of 8 more bonus tracks recorded at the end of the 60s – a few live tracks, and a number of other collaborations that follow the spirit of the main album. The package features a wonderful 44 page booklet, loaded with notes and photos – and titles include "Yulele", "Quien Te Viera", "Uh Que Macana", "Nina", "Tras De Ti", "Por Que", "La Chola", "Esa Cosa", "Blues Para El Bien Mio", "Margaritas Rojas", "Hombre", and "Mumi". CD

An amazing little record from the Uruguay scene of the 70s – not as much as a hotbed of activity as some other South American nations, but still home to a few key geniuses – like the brilliant Eduardo Mateo! Mateo works here alongside musical partner Jorge Trasante – who mixes a lot of earthy percussion with Eduardo's dark vocals and guitar lines – in a style that's far from folksy, and has more of the complicated appeal of some of the organic work from Brazil during the post-Tropicalia years! And like some of the more heavenly Brazilian music of the period, there's a really transcendent feel to the whole thing – a vocal power that goes beyond the boundaries of language, and instrumentation that's simple and subtle, but in ways that are light years away from anything going on in the US or UK. Other players add in some key extra elements – a bit of electric bass here, some funky flute there – to inflect the tunes with some hipper, jazzy elements that are really wonderful. Titles include "Dulce Brillo", "Canto A Los Soles", "Palomas", "El Blues Para Mama", "Voz De Diamantes", and "Cancion Para El Tamborero". CD